Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

The Pinball Show Ep 38: Dennis Is Angry At Elton John & Zach Is Angry At Walmart

The Pinball Show·podcast_episode·1h 6m·analyzed·Nov 16, 2020
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Pinball Show discusses GNR sales success, market shifts toward home collectors, and upcoming hardware innovations.

Summary

The Pinball Show hosts Zach Manny and Dennis Creasel discuss recent pinball industry news including Zach selling his Jurassic Park LE, Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses sales success, Stern's Dave & Buster's FEC display system, and analysis of the home vs. operator market split (90% home market for Jersey Jack). Industry correspondents report on Stern rumors of a Led Zeppelin music pinball, Deadpool code updates, Jersey Jack manufacturing delays, and American Pinball's Hot Wheels sweepstakes.

Key Claims

  • Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses promotional video sparked millions of dollars in sales within 24-48 hours

    medium confidence · Element Studio owner quoted on Fox 8 WGHP news segment; hosts skeptical of attribution but acknowledge successful launch

  • 90% of Jersey Jack machines are going to the home market

    medium confidence · Mentioned in Element Studio news coverage; Zach surprised by publicity of this statistic

  • Jurassic Park LE is Zach's favorite LE, but he sold it for $10,500 plus topper to a local buyer

    high confidence · Direct personal account from Zach Manny during show

  • Operators don't see sufficient ROI justification for Jersey Jack machines over Stern Pro in location play

    medium confidence · Dennis Creasel's analysis based on operator communications in his area

  • Dave & Buster's is facing financial difficulty and closing locations

    medium confidence · Mentioned by hosts during discussion of Stern's new FEC display system announcement

  • Stern rumors indicate Led Zeppelin pinball machine designed by Steve Ritchie in development

    low confidence · Craig Bobby correspondent report citing 'not-so-quiet whispers' on forums and chat streams

  • Deadpool received code update version 1.05 with song changes

    high confidence · Craig Bobby correspondent report confirms update availability

Notable Quotes

  • “I'm telling you right now it is not worth that eleven thousand dollars that's what i would need to sell it for for it to move my out of my collection right now because I don't want to sell it.”

    Zach Manny @ ~8:30 — Zach explaining his pricing strategy for Jurassic Park LE before ultimately selling it

  • “It's about the badge. It's about you needing to flex and settling for a premium when you're trying to flaunt wealth that is not going to work.”

    Dennis Creasel @ ~12:00 — Dennis critiquing the distinction between LE and Premium machines and collector mentality

  • “immediately their sales, talking about Jersey Jack pinball, sparked in the millions within just 24 to 48 hours”

    Element Studio owner (quoted) @ ~28:30 — Key claim about GNR promotional video success attributed to Element Studio

  • “90% of machines from Jersey Jack are going to the home market”

    Element Studio news segment (quoted) @ ~29:00 — Notable market data point about Jersey Jack's sales distribution

  • “There is little incentive from most of the operators I have communicated with in the area to buy a Jersey Jack pinball machine to route. Because even if it gets more coin drop, it doesn't get enough more versus a Stern Pro to justify the price difference.”

    Dennis Creasel @ ~35:00 — Explains operator economics favoring Stern Pro over Jersey Jack for location play

  • “That's such a great line. Wow. Oh, bullshit! That's such a great line.”

    Zach Manny @ ~32:00 — Zach expressing skepticism about Element Studio's millions-of-dollars sales claim

  • “Maybe consult a lawyer who understands DMCA if that's the concern. But that's on Stern and that's not on you.”

    Dennis Creasel @ ~39:00 — Dennis advising on Stern's apparent rejection of capture card release

  • “I don't envision that Dave & Buster's is in any better position than they are, other than they have a massive corporate overlord that maybe has cash reserves.”

Entities

Zach MannypersonDennis CreaselpersonThe Pinball ShowmediaCraig BobbypersonKen RudbergpersonBrian KosnerpersonJersey Jack PinballcompanyStern Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Dave & Buster's chain facing financial difficulties and store closures; questionable viability as pinball venue partner for Stern's new FEC system

    medium · Hosts note Dave & Buster's discussing bankruptcy; skeptical about foot traffic in pandemic environment; Zach suggests company in desperation mode

  • ?

    business_signal: Jersey Jack experiencing manufacturing delays on Guns N' Roses with clear coat and weight issues

    high · Ken Rudberg correspondent report; social media responses from buyers indicating frustration with delays

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Operator market increasingly dominated by Stern Pro as sole viable location choice due to ROI math; Jersey Jack and other manufacturers struggling to compete in operator segment

    medium · Dennis Creasel analysis: operators lose less money on Stern Pro resale than Jersey Jack; insufficient coin-drop premium to justify JJP price difference

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball focusing heavily on home market (90% according to news coverage) with reduced operator-focused products

    medium · Element Studio news segment cited 90% home market; hosts discuss operator economics favoring Stern Pro over JJP for location play

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses launch hype driven by professional video production with significant sales attribution claimed by Element Studio

    medium · Element Studio owner quoted claiming 'millions of dollars' sales sparked in 24-48 hours; received Fox 8 news coverage; hosts express skepticism about attribution

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.201

0:00
Warning, the following episode contains adult language and screaming goats. Listener discretion is advised.
0:10
The Pinball Network is online. Launching, The Pinball Show. Pinball is a game of skill. For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle.
0:26
It's time for The Pinball Show. It's pinball with personality Welcome back to the pinball show. We're in episode 38 this week. We're gonna have a non-berry edition I cannot I can't promise the listener. We're not gonna have any next-gen video game talk. Everybody really loved that last week Welcome. I am your host Zach many alongside my co-host Dennis Creasel from the eclectic gamers podcast the true video game discussion go ahead and subscribe to them and listen to them tell us prior to the episode how's it going dennis going all right yeah blueberry isn't that the cereal with berries yeah blueberry i never had that i know you had it once i had the crunch berries though sometimes oh the captain crunch yeah the cereal that would cut the roof of your mouth open i'm a fan i'm a fan of the captain crunch i like blood with my cereal fruity pebbles are what does that to me I'm like, oh, God. Oh, they get soggy so fast. You got to scrape it off like a cheese grater. You get it off your tongue and throat and stuff. Any big things happening to you lately? Not special. Nothing? Just normal big things. You need me to come visit to make it special. No, we're social distancing, Zach. I'm still waiting for my. For your safety and mine. I'm still waiting for my Thanksgiving invite from the Creasel family, but. We're not doing Thanksgiving as a family. Geez. What about Christmas? Probably not. Damn. We haven't discussed that yet. Christmas with the Creasles. There will be a presence. Presence will arrive somehow. And as we all know, Christmas is about presence. Well, it is. How much would it take for you to record a Christmas album?
2:17

Dennis Creasel @ ~45:00 — Commentary on Dave & Buster's financial position and viability as pinball venue

American Pinball
company
Element Studiocompany
Steve Ritchieperson
George Gomezperson
Guns N' Rosesgame
Jurassic Park LEgame
Deadpoolgame
The Hobbitgame
Hot Wheelsgame
Elite Pinball Topperscompany
Dave & Buster'scompany
Averyville Mediacompany
Raymond Davidsonperson
Snoop Doggperson
Ricky Kaleperson
  • ?

    announcement: Stern Pinball announced new FEC (Family Entertainment Center) display system with top-down camera, mirrored LCD display, and overhead screen showing playfield and animation

    high · Stern posted video on social media; hosts describe detailed technical specifications of system shown in Dave & Buster's locations

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern's new FEC display system announced for Dave & Buster's but timeline and widespread rollout unclear

    low · Video showed system in D&B Sports locations; hosts question feasibility for barcades and general location adoption; no specific launch timeline provided

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern facing issues with capture card sales/licensing; DMCA concerns halting release despite prior demonstration

    medium · Zach reports Stern told him to stop selling capture cards and remove video; Stern claims prototype status but hosts skeptical; discussed as broader issue affecting company like Averyville Media

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Led Zeppelin music pinball machine designed by Steve Ritchie rumored in development at Stern

    low · Craig Bobby reports 'not-so-quiet whispers on all major forums, podcasts, and chat streams'; timing speculated for Black Friday/Christmas announcements

  • ?

    technology_signal: New aftermarket topper company (Elite Pinball Toppers) creating screen-based toppers as alternative to traditional physical toppers

    medium · Elite Pinball Toppers announced wooden book-framed screen topper for Hobbit; plans to expand product line; $750 retail price

    • I'm in no way qualified to do that. No, I'm just saying if some type. I'm not Mariah Carey. We don't just break me out of cryostasis for Christmas. Baby, it's cold outside Would you do it for 10k?
    2:31
    I mean, maybe I don't know how long the album would have to be Just 8 cuts of my favorite tunes 8 cuts Yeah, sure I can just hear you On my drum Yeah, for 10,000, absolutely Okay, I'll think about it Easy I'll think about it. See if I want to sell an LE. Oh, speaking of. Oh, you sold an LE? We had a fan and, well, is it a fan? We don't have fans. Why don't we? We have listeners. How do you know they're not fans? Because they're humans.
    3:13
    I just picture a fan now. Now, we had a friend of the show say, I would love to hear you guys talk about more of your game room updates, right? Some people hate that. Oh, gosh. Well, I don't typically have that much change to warrant a game room update, so I don't usually think about that. But I do. Okay. Well, you can give your game room update. I haven't updated my game room at all this year. Well, you did have a machine go down on you yesterday. Firepower, but it's – and then after I let it cool off, it is still working. So it's going to be an intermittent solve. Yeah, I did stream the other day. I streamed Firepower for about 30 minutes, and then it locked up on me and wouldn't reboot, so I switched over to Hoops. Well, how old is Firepower? Well, Firepower at this point is, yeah, it's 40 years old. So, you know, there comes a time in everyone's life, they start getting hot flashes, mid-age, and get a little hot. Yeah, but it's had a few surgeries. Turn it off for a while. It's got some robotic parts in it now. Okay, fair enough. Well, no, you're right. I did sell – I sold a Stern LE this week, and I didn't want to. Oh, no. Was it a DMD Stern LE or a screen? I don't do DMD Sterns. Oh, that's true. This is my boom flex.
    4:29
    No. That's right. We are all familiar with how much you'll flex in that episode. Okay, so it's an LE, so I'm guessing – I'm going to guess that it was Stranger Things. I didn't intend to. Keep saying mine. It was not. I don't think I could sell. Well, no, I didn't think I could sell Jurassic Park, Ellie, but damned if I didn't sell that machine, listener. Dennis, it's gone. Goodbye. You actually are less hot on Elwynn-designed games than I think a lot of people in this hobby are. I would agree with that. So I'm not as surprised. I would agree. Well, the only reason is somebody came in. They were local. They were just getting into pinball-ish. they bought a Stranger Things Pro from the showroom and the guy said, I want that Jurassic Park. And I said, it's not for sale. It's my personal LA. Don't want to sell it. And he said, well, I get that. And he said, can you find me one? I said, yeah, I mean, yeah, we can find you one, but price is going to be just as much as it was new. And he said, Zach, you got the powder coat, you got the shooter knob. I just want that one. Would you do it for two Scooby Snacks? oh i do love my but i said now i can't sell it and he said hypothetically if you had to sell it what would you sell it for and i said look um the way it sits right now i'm going to give you a price that is i'm telling you right now it is not worth that eleven thousand dollars that's what i would need to sell it for for it to move my out of my collection right now because I don't want to sell it. And if you take it for $11,000 and you ever try to resell it, you will not get that back. And he said, I'll take it.
    6:17
    Would you have done that? No. I had to, right? Absolutely not. Oh, I mean, if I were you, yeah, I'd have sold it. I had to. Yeah, it came up on my stream later when I was – and that's not unusual. I do sometimes get people who reach out to me on Hoops specifically because they want it. Hard to find. Yeah, and they're hard to find. And someone said, well, what would you take? Like if I wanted to – I got to remember they went – the concept of a trade came up. It's like, well, what would you take? Is there anything that you do? I'm like, yeah, absolutely. Like if you were to come in and say, here's Elvira, House of Horrors, and you want to swap it for hoops, yeah, I have a price. Absolutely. I said, well, let me think about it a little bit. And I went and delivered his Stranger Things. I said, I'll tell you what.
    7:03
    I got to have that topper. I'll do 10-5, and I keep the topper. And he said, okay, sold. So my Jurassic Park LE is now gone. And here's what I really wanted to ask the listener and you, Dennis. Only 500 off for appreciating value toppers. Sheesh. I want to – I thought it was fair. It wasn't, but he already was overpaying, so whatever. Why not? Why not go all the way in? I want to get another Jurassic Park. it is right now probably my favorite l1 but do i avengers burn ouch well it's just right a just need to fill out that code a little bit nagel fill out that code a little bit but do i replace it with an le or because i wasn't always crazy about the looks of the le on that do I just go premium save some money but then Ellie the hell out of it custom powder coat I want to get that trans light send it off to BG Rest or whoever to add mirroring effects to it so I can feel like I'm not missing out on that Ellie I got the topper you would just get the Ellie really? and then bling it out even more I'm not a big green person Isn't that green? It's not about the color. It's about the badge. It's about you needing to flex and settling for a premium when you're trying to flaunt wealth that is not going to work. I wonder if I could outdo an Ellie. That sounds like a good challenge. Maybe I can out-Ellie the Ellie's. That's subjective. So you do whatever you would do, and then you would claim that you did. So, yeah, that's listener. Email us or Facebook us at the Pinball Network. Let me know what I should do. Or not. He's going to do what he wants anyway. And the other game room update for me, I tweaked and been working on Guns N' Roses a bit. The orbits weren't feeding where I wanted them to as clean. The inner orbit was feeding to the right out lane a lot. Yeah, a lot of people probably wouldn't care for that. Did some metal guide tweaks, simple enough. And I took out those wretched rubber flippers.
    9:22
    Everyone loves those rubber flippers. Oh, not on that game. Except you and Ryan C. Yeah, I love you, Ryan. So put some Titans in there. The game plays at least 30% better. I didn't think it could get any better, but it did. 30% better. I've been blowing up that game now. Kiefer, Joe Katz, I know how to get those scores up now. I know how to do it. I'm still playing that game more than any other game in the collection. I just want you to play it, David. We don't have one around here yet. but they could be shipping any day maybe any day so that's my game room update i've been adding some mods to the avengers for measle mods um i added a new topper we'll talk about here soon to the hobbit but before we do so we've got a couple correspondents that would like to get their own word in here it's time for tpn industry news Who wants a music pin? And the coders keep cranking out the binary Hey everyone, Craig here again The Pinball Show's Stern News Correspondent Yes, the Stern rumor mill continues to heat up these days As not-so-quiet whispers of a Steve Ritchie-designed Led Zeppelin music pin can be heard on all the major forums, podcasts, and chat streams. Could this be true? Is the King of Flow taking on the Godfathers of Rock in a music light show of pinball awesomeness? Well, with Black Friday rapidly approaching and Christmas not far behind, one has to think that Stern will be making another one of their famous release announcements shortly to take full advantage of this year's holiday buying season and continue to add to their growing list of machine backorders. As demand for home entertainment and home improvement items for consumers continue to surge in all categories, we are seeing first-hand that pinball is no exception, with manufacturers like Stern making hay while this bye-bye-bye trend continues.
    11:30
    And just when you thought it was safe to put your Katana USB stick away for the second week in a row no less, new Deadpool code is out with version 1.05. Wow! Yes, the 2018 gem of a game designed by none other than George Gomez himself with its zombie yeti art package and Jerry Thompson sound seems to be seeing a bit of a resurgence and revival. Maybe with pinball wizards like Raymond Davidson streaming this machine recently and showcasing what this game is capable of has reminded pinheads how entertaining and fun a machine Deadpool still is. Sorry, Monsters fans. No new code again this week. And that's all for this week. For the Pinball Show, I'm Craig Bobby. Catch you on the flip side.
    12:23
    Hi, this is Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack update. As Guns N' Roses buyers continue to face issues both related to weights for their machines and then clear coat issues when they arrive. Jersey Jack Pinball has been posting encouraging pictures and videos on social media. They show a busy manufacturing line with games being shipped out the door. A lot of these buyers have been very vocal about wanting more information about both the clear coat issues and the delays on their games. Hopefully Jersey Jack will respond to them soon. In non-Guns N' Roses news, The Hobbit is receiving an innovative topper from a brand new company. Elite Pinball Toppers have created a small screen framed in a wooden book with open pages that shows Hobbit video content on the top of the machine. This content is actually mirrored from the small screen that's on the playfield, and it helps showcase some of the video clips from a game already packed with excellent video content. They plan on branching out to other games in the future, but for now they are only making 50 Hobbit toppers, and they retail for $750. If you want one, you better get on that quick. For the Pinball Show, this has been Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack Update.
    13:38
    Hey, this is Kaz with an American Pinball Update. It was an exciting week for American Pinball and Hot Wheels, with live events all week for the Hot Wheels Legends Tour. Deadflip had a full playthrough with programmer Josh Kugler. It's now available on YouTube. And the final event of the week was live from Jay Leno's garage with Snoop Dogg and other celebrity guests. And the winner of the Hot Wheels Pinball Machine Sweepstakes was announced. It was Ricky Kale of Grand Junction, Colorado. So congrats and have fun with your new machine. For more info, visit American Pinball's Facebook page. Hope everybody has a great week and has fun playing pinball. For the Pinball Show, this is Brian Kosner. Always great hearing from the three amigos there in the Correspondence Newsroom. Do you think they're actually friends? Yes, I do. I would like it to be more competitive. Oh.
    14:29
    Everybody going after Craig Bobby because he's got the king of manufacturers, Stern Pinball? Well, all I have to do is voice stylings. Don't copy him. I mean, that would be too obvious. Oh, I see. That one. Yeah, yeah. I think the deeper correspondent, Chris Chandler for TPS, has given up. I don't think he's in any way. He's like, whatever. I think he's waiting. You know, there was supposed to be a demonstration for Chicago Pinball Expo, and it didn't end up happening virtually. What happened there? I don't know. Maybe he's investigating that as we speak. I just picture Robert Mueller like twiddling his thumb saying, where's the pinball? I heard that line a whole lot ever since. Thank you, Ron, because that turned into a niche meme. Let's blame Ron Hallett for that. Yeah. It turned into like our little niche community's call out. I love it. Everyone tries to say it like Hulk Hogan, too. Yeah. And I love that Ron's like, no, it wasn't me. It was Hulk Hogan.
    15:32
    So let's talk about Stern Pinball. Stern Pinball had a quickie video up on their social medias, their Twitters and their Facebooks, about Dave & Buster's, Stern Games and Dave & Buster's, and TV screens on top of Stern Pinball machines. Yeah, because I didn't see the video. So I saw a headline about this, but I did not explore it further because I thought maybe there was some discussion. But I've heard Dave and Buster's before, and I'm sure in case anyone wants to write in, I'll go ahead and call it out now. P3 did it first. Yeah. So they had a Dave and Buster's in Texas that put in the multimorphic P3 platform. And that's kind of the last I had heard about Dave and Buster's until this last week. We had a short video that was just a pan and scan of a Deadpool, an Avengers, a Stranger Things, maybe more. and they were all set up inside the Dave and Buster's the the sports is called D&B sports I don't know if this is an area I don't know I don't know if it's been a while since I've been to Dave and Buster's same here so I'm not sure but they really focused at the end of video camera focus on that D sports as if coming soon this is what going to happen But the interesting thing was they were showing off their new FEC or Family Entertainment Center, display system. We're used to that big pinball alley sign that we see at shows and FECs, but this is their kind of 2.0 take on that, where they had an arm that reached over the head with a camera on it to do a straight-down gameplay. And above the machine was, in horizontal orientation, a large screen for the display, what was on the LCD animation, all of that. Hence the video adapter use, likely. And then above that display was the display on top of the display, yo. And in vertical orientation was the top-down gameplay of the play field from that camera. You got to attract people, catch their eyes. Yes. And those displays were cheaper than a topper. Well, it just depends on what topper. They were. I can say, yeah, they were. But it was interesting to see because we've seen a lot of locations, competition-based locations, have this type of setup, maybe not with the mirrored animation LCD display on the game, but with the top-down view, certainly. Do you think this draws people in, Dennis? and also how many locations do you think will really be interested in something like this? It was a monster. It was big. Well, I could draw people in. I could see that. And being big can help with that. I mean, think about those like giant Pac-Man games and stuff that they have. Good point. Anything that's just sort of large and in your face. I mean, that's what arcades need to rely on now because the home experience is so good from a like graphic fidelity standpoint that you can't really compete on that front anymore. That said, I don't know if it works out. You might not have heard, Zach, but there's a pandemic. And so I don't know what Dave and Buster is going to do anyway at all. It's like maybe it's the perfect time to go into Dave and Buster's because they're desperate for anything. But I don't really expect there to be a lot of patrons going to Dave and Buster's, period. There's a lot of Dave and Buster's closing down right now. Yeah, no. As we know, a lot of pinball venues are really struggling, either because of the restrictions that they face in their communities or because people just aren't showing up to them because they're staying home. So I don't envision that Dave & Buster's is in any better position than they are, other than they have a massive corporate overlord that maybe has cash reserves. Possibly. I just – yeah. Dave & Buster's just talked about going bankrupt. It's just not the environment to know that this is going to help pinball because I think Dave & Buster's can't help itself right now. It kind of felt like Dave and Buster's like, fine, whatever. We'll try anything. Come in here, pinball. Going and being able to win a stuffed animal while playing pinball, in theory, if kids go and realize that it's a game of skill and they can actually earn more tickets and feel like they have more control if they're doing pinball than doing the drop the coin game or something, I could see that, that being the pull. And then you kind of get them into pinball as an indirect. It's like an indirect, oh, yeah, you can catch the ball, and I have control over this and I have a better chance of winning that PS5. I don't think kids are smart enough to really think about, oh, I maximize my ticket ratio over here on this game. Kids are dumb. I always see the parents lined up like crackheads outside of that slot machine. Oh, sorry, not slot machine. It's a gambling device for children. But they're always on the ones that give you the most redemption. And they're just sitting there with just spools of tickets coming out With a long ash on a cigarette.
    20:27
    Well, and that's where it comes down to what gives you the most tickets, the most redemption. And if pinball is being competitive with those, at least if you're playing it well, then I could see the value there. I don't know. I mean, when I was a kid, like, I would go and gravitate towards, if I wanted tickets, I'd do things like skee-ball where I knew I could get a lot versus some of the other stuff which seemed more random to me. Yeah, but that's creasel as a kid. I mean, you're the one that talked about polynomial analysis and shit. Well, I didn't talk about it when I was eight. You were dreaming of it. I think a lot of kids are smart enough to know this gave me eight tickets, this gave me three. This game blows. Credits on your card or whatever.
    21:10
    It's an interesting thing. I think that that whole capture card thing kind of backfired, and that was a mess. So they were like, all right, let's go back to the drawing board here. How did it backfire? because I released it sold them and they told me to stop selling them and take the video down didn't they tell you that it was still in prototype that's what they said but that was bullshit oh it's weird why aren't those out yet that's what I'm saying the DMCA isn't that on the end user I don't see how the company can be held liable it's a mess is Sony worried about people streaming copyright stuff with their handicaps How does Averville Media sell capture cards? And this doesn't matter. They're doing it again here. I'm just saying. That wasn't an issue. Maybe consult a lawyer who understands DMCA if that's the concern. But that's on Star and that's not on you. These things are really tall, so I don't even see them fitting in a lot of barcades. I don't know who the end user here is. It looks cool. It may just be for family entertainment centers. I mean, they all – we have others that are like Dave & Buster's but aren't Dave & Buster's. but interior-wise, they'd be able to accommodate this. Yes, a lot of them would. So I'm guessing it's for the chains. I still see this mostly beneficial to competition-based locations that are really heavy, lean heavy on the competition side. Yeah, I mean, the screen stuff, here locally, 403 Club, they were having discussions about trying to set up a way to put the play fields up on a screen in the bar so people could watch what was going on easier. Yeah. It's of interest. And as you noted, there are other pinball specific venues that have done it. Deadpool got a code update, version 1.05.
    22:53
    No one cares. It doesn't include much. I think they changed around some of the songs because of reasons I have no clue. Beep, beep, put the beep back in. That's right. Beep gate. This one's disco multi-ball. Beep gate, I think. Jersey Jack pinball. What's Jersey Jack pinball been up to? They're building GNRs. I hope. I sure as hell hope so, too. I've seen an interesting news spotlight out of, I believe, the Carolinas, Fox 8 WGHP, that covered a story about local Element Studio. This is the same studio, Dennis. Oh, they're the ones that did the fancy video. Yes, yes, that teaser sizzle reel that they did for GNR. So they overviewed kind of this company and this recent GNR video. They had the owner on. They had some of the creators and the producers on there talking about the wildly successful video promotion they did for Jersey Jack Pinball regarding Guns N' Roses. I got a quote here. I believe this is from the owner of the company, Element Studio. He said, quote, immediately their sales, talking about Jersey Jack pinball, sparked in the millions within just 24 to 48 hours. The millions. He went on to say this is a true testimony to how that video came across. Now, by millions, I'm assuming that's millions of dollars, not millions of units. Yes, yes. Otherwise, they're really going to ramp up their line capabilities. They're really screwed.
    24:29
    Yeah. So it was shocking to me. I love seeing a local news organization cover that local production studio, but it was shocking to me this boldness of this statement being so public sparked millions of dollars within just one to two days. Do you see this as being true? Millions of dollars in 24 to 48 hours. Yeah, I think that just based off of the CE sales alone, that that's feasible. Is it not? That's a very successful promotional video whenever we're seeing numbers like this. I don't know how much to credit the video, but people bought it before they... There are people who ordered with only the videos and the still photos to go off of. I don't know what percentage is responsible for what. I would say the majority of people that have a GNR on order ordered one day one. And day one, we just saw the videos and we had the podcast, we had the deep dive.
    25:30
    That's a successful launch, I would believe, based on quantitative numbers here. Sure, but I haven't heard anyone, at least within the pinball hobby, commentate in any way other than that this was a successful launch, perhaps the most successful launch of any pinball machine ever. It just feels like this company went out, got news to cover it. they were even very surprised and happy and proud. Maybe you and Greg should have reached out to some Indiana news station. I know. I was a little bit. Regarding your work, regarding your efforts. Granted, you're not going to compete with a name as cool as Element Studios. We had SDTM Studios. That sounds stupid. It just cracked me up because I'm like, Greg, what did we do? Here's this company. They got paid to do this thing. This whole group of people, They're claiming to make millions of dollars for Jersey Jack. Well, what happened to our video? Two schlubs from Indiana. We're pretty high up, too. Maybe. I don't know. I didn't see a news piece on you. I'm waiting for my crumbs from fucking Element Studio. I'm hungry, too. I don't think Element Studio was paid to promote you. Sales sparked millions of dollars. Oh, bullshit! That's such a great line. Wow. It sure would have been great if straight down the middle studios had been able to claim that. Well, we're claiming it now, damn it. It's too late. Everyone already knows Element gets the credit. We sparked billions of dollars.
    26:57
    It's just testimony to how well those videos did. You're jealous that they are a highly successful studio that gets credit for their work? That's what I'm – salty, salty. Yes. No, you don't know this. As a minor aside, I had a board member, a governing board member. I'm a nonprofit, so I work for the board. And we were at a meeting, and this is where me on like how I am here is sort of like me in real life. So we were at some meeting, and she was just complaining about stuff. And I just turned to her and I said, why are you so salty? What did she say? And she never has forgotten it. She brings it up any time she sees me. Oh, yes, Dennis. She left her position. She's now working somewhere else in public health. And I ran into her in a virtual meeting. She goes, oh, hi, Dennis. Yeah, you think I'm salty, don't you? Oh, you're like, give it up. I said, you're not letting this go, are you? You sound salty. No, well, I was salty, Dennis. But now I think about it all the time. She doesn't sound very sweet. That's my gift to you. I tell people when they're salty. So, no, maybe I'm a little salty. you know, about the suggestion that their video was the one that, you know, pulled. Well, we don't really know which video did or did not. We cause a sale. They're like, you're assuming there's a video that was the tipping point. Maybe it's all of them working together in harmony. That's what I'd like to think. But this paid element studios taking all the credit for it. Yeah. I hear you start paid. Promotional groups get paid, Zach. That's how it works. I don't work promotion for free. Shit. I really messed up that negotiation. Well, I guess that's on you. Do better next time, Zach. Maybe try and at least get an SE out of it. Maybe try something.
    28:46
    They also mentioned in this video, and I don't know the truth behind this, Dennis, the listener. They said that 90% of machines from Jersey Jack are going to the home market. 90%. I don't think that's surprising. If anything, it sounds low. Really? Yeah, I think Jersey Jack has known for a long time. There is little incentive from most of the operators I have communicated with in the area to buy a Jersey Jack pinball machine to route. Because even if it gets more coin drop, it doesn't get enough more versus a Stern Pro to justify the price difference. And the hit you take on the used market, you lose more dollars on the Jersey Jack than you do on a Stern Pro. So you might as well just buy Stern Pros and then lose $500 when you sell them and make basically the same amount of money. So it's just a numbers game. But when you're talking Stern Pro, I agree. But when we're talking non-home market, Stern Pro is the logical choice for most operators. They don't make more money on the premium, not enough to justify an additional $1 amount. I agree, but what I don't understand is that I've seen a lot of operators within the last year go premium, go LE. I never understand it. We had an area operator who that was like his thing. Some of them, it's their thing. Yeah, there's competition in the area. It makes sense. They're catering to the pinhead crowd. Yeah.
    30:13
    But that's not how most operators are. I've seen a lot of it lately. So 90% didn't surprise me either. It just surprised me that they're putting this type of information out there. Yeah, I mean, that's interesting. But I mean, I think Jersey Jack's trying to address that. I think that's why they're stripping down their standard editions and getting it priced lower. $67.50 is a low price for a Jersey Jack pinball machine. It is. And if it is truly 90%, or even what you're suggesting, maybe even higher than that. The 90 may be right. I'm just saying, if anything, I would have thought it was higher. But why even, I don't even know if I would put that much time or allocation into operations at that point. I would go full, full-blown, full-in, maybe sprinkle a little bit over into operations. But let's go full, how does this make the most sense in a home? Are you still here with these manufacturers really talking about this location, pinball? Especially now, in 2020?
    31:09
    I don't even know if I would put any time into that. Well, and that's a good point regarding 2020 in particular, but I mean it's a – how much more – obviously, I think you can do things to try and focus to the home market different than what currently are going on. But it's a question of – I mean part of the attraction that you win the operators no matter what in a way with the lower pricing.
    31:34
    Like what more can you do in the upper echelons? You're in the stratosphere on pricing currently. how much more of that market can you seize? There's just not much market there. It's going to keep growing. It's been growing. But how much of that market do you get when you have to go up against those that want buttercabs from Spooky and want the licenses in LE form from Stern?
    31:56
    Everyone's competing in that market space. The operator space has got more. There's less competition because it's pretty much just Stern.
    32:05
    I mean, we've seen some. And again, Jersey Jack's not the only one that make efforts. Hot Wheels. That was clearly an attempt to try and make it more attractive to operators. Very, very true.
    32:16
    Just interesting numbers that I'm hearing this week. So the other thing I caught, and I don't know, this might have been up there for a long time, but if you go to Pinside and look at The Hobbit, most of the Jersey Jack machines you look at will still say in production during that splash page whenever you go to the title. But on The Hobbit, on Pinside, it says, you know, remember the old bally williams have how many produced it says 4 000 units produced and i i there's the first time i'd seen it so i thought what in the world was this all about i wonder if they really made 4 000 hobbits and i went and looked at all the other jersey jack games the pirates did have some numbers as well uh conveniently the standard they said pirates the caribbean 150 units the ce 200 units the le 650 units add those up but that's that's a thousand units. I don't know if that's just a, here's what we're going to put out there versus truth, but 4,000 units. I did reach out to Jersey Jack Pimble for clarification on this. And I asked him, Hey, did the Hobbit actually sell 4,000 units or did you at least produce 4,000 units of the Hobbit? Cause Jersey Jack doesn have any to sell And they said no comment Hmm So I uh I gone to IPDB and I don see the production numbers there so I not sure where Yeah Because sometimes those figures, that pin-side list, are pulled from IPDB. But I don't see production there, so I don't know where they got that as a source. Yes. Interesting. I've heard the 1,000 for Pirates. Yes. And it's an even number, which is kind of odd. Yeah, and again, I don't know. in either case if that's accurate or not. I mean, we have seen other even numbers from other companies before, including back when Stern released numbers. Sure. They sometimes had even numbers. 4,000. The 800 units of Sharky Shootout. That's a lot of Hobbits. It is. But it was, you remember, there was a huge ramp-up period where people, it was a long cycle before they got produced. The movies, people were really, there was highly anticipated. Well, it was coming off of Wizard of Oz. It was going to be Lord of the Rings 2.0. Yeah, they thought this was everything. All they knew from Jersey Jack at this point was Wizard of Oz, which was heralded as one of the greatest ever made. So they were ready for that follow-up. Heralded for cramming a lot of toys in. Well, yeah. I don't know anyone who sings the praises of that gameplay. What, Wizard of Oz? Yeah. A ton of people.
    34:43
    Oh, there probably are. I just don't know them. The people I know will say at best, clunky but good. Yeah, I think the Hobbit shoes better. I would agree. Interesting. I don't know what to make of it, but we did reach out to Dirty Jack. Speaking of The Hobbit, did you know, Dennis, there is a brand-new company that just came out this week called Elite Pinball Toppers that is creating limited toppers, less priced than some of these manufactured toppers, and more materials, better looking, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. There's 50 of The Hobbit topper that Elite Pinball Toppers just created, 50 of them. and they've already sold more than half of the units, half of those 50 in just 24 hours. They're $750 plus shipping. And straight in the middle, we did a reveal promo with them. I've been working with them for months now on kind of a consultation basis, helping them get set up good ideas versus bad ideas. And I'm really proud of what they've accomplished here. It's a beautiful topper. And when we're talking thousand dollar toppers, as a normal thing now, this seems like a half-decent deal. Well, I'm glad their consultant has signed off on approving of it. It's been getting a lot of rave reviews. Some people are like, I don't want another monitor up there, and I get that. But it's nicely done. It looks good. It surprised me with how good it looks, and then when you turn it on, you just remember because a lot of those video assets, it mirrors that small screen down that book on the play field, But you see it so small down there that a lot of those video representations and cuts from the film are not seen on that big LCD screen during a track mode or anything. So you get those nice and big up on the top. It is an eye catcher for sure. Do you think an aftermarket topper company like this with possible different tiers and levels works in 2021, 2020? It can. It's a question of if they're either avoiding using licensed elements and then are able to still make something that people want on top, or if they get permissions to use licensed elements, which I think is more challenging for a small company. Very much. But not out of the realm of possibility. I mean, in theory, especially if you were dealing with licensed assets, I think people would be – I think you could compete. I think you could. But if you got, to be fair, licensing a little bit on mods, I don't know a whole hell of a lot about, but I've been in the circle of knowing a little bit. And if you try to license a product from like a new line cinema for 50 units, they'll – I mean money speaks. They'll do it, but it's not going to be $750. No, and I think that's where like – and a lot of mods and stuff, they just – I think for most mods, it's not a big deal. Like it's easy enough to – oh, look, here's a donut shop 3D printed for – it doesn't have to say any brand. It still gets you what you want. Like a lot of Measel mods do that. It's stuff that – it's not licensed, but it's still, oh, this is about zombies. This is about space. Adding asteroids to your Star Trek is not going to run amok with anything, and it can make it look like you're in space. It's like it's no problem. With toppers, we've seen a lot of third-party stuff, and I just don't know about – statements are generic dinosaurs versus something sane, Jurassic Park. It just depends on how good it looks, I guess. That was one of my, doing the consultation with the owner over there, I said one of the big things to consider is this. If you cannot integrate that into the pen like some of these manufacturers do, that is, you know, lights flashing when certain, if you cannot do that, then you need to go big on visual representation and motor movements and the art and the crafting of this thing, the durability. You need to go big everywhere else to make an impact. Otherwise, it's going to fall wayside and it's just going to be seen as some cheap aftermarket topper that's not as good as an original kind of thing. Yeah. But that being said, if the manufacturer-derived toppers are going to just keep going up by as much as they are and they're going to gouge, then there's a huge space just to save hundreds of dollars and people might be willing to compromise. Yeah. And we know that the Hobbit really didn't have an official topper to it. And it makes sense now because a lot of people are like, well, why would you do the Hobbit? But numbers-wise, if they did sell 4,000 units and a lot of people have toppers on their JJPs, it kind of makes sense.
    39:15
    Regardless of how many Hobbits they sold, they sold more than they did Pirates. Come on. Pirates was not successful for JJP. People need to remember this. That's the reason why they quit making it. But the Pirates did have one hell of a topper on their CE. Yeah, the CEs came with a bottle. The LE came with a cheap-looking one, but it was still there. The Hobbit came with nothing. and it sold possibly three to four times the amount of Pirates. So it kind of makes sense. Yeah. And the next one's Indiana Jones that he's doing. I don't know. That'll look great on the Stern Indiana Jones. Maybe people will want it then. I'll give you a sneak peek. It does not, to my knowledge, have an LCD screen because people are like, well, are they just going to put an LCD screen on it? No, no. Just the tip of the iceberg here.
    39:58
    Speaking of iceberg. Roy, the head. That would be a very sad pinball machine. It would. No, I would love that. Bill Webb would not. I'd like it more than Hot Wheels. American Pinball had its Hot Wheels Legends Tour that it sponsored, the virtual car show, a big event that Mattel and Hot Wheels has each and every year. But this year, American Pinball, because they created the pinball machine, was a sponsor, and they gave away a brand-new Hot Wheels pinball machine. That's pretty damn cool. It is. Ricky Kale out of Grand Junction, Colorado won that new machine during that sweepstakes. Do you know a Ricky Kale? That's right. If you're not first, you're asparagus.
    40:40
    That might have been the joke of the episode. Sorry, Ricky. I didn't mean to. I know your last name is not spelled like the vegetable. I couldn't help myself. I don't know where to go from that. It was live from Jay Leno's garage. Snoop Dogg was there smoking a blunt with Josh Kugler. I'm joking. He wasn't, but that would be cool. Some celebrities, this is cool. This is how you get pinball out there to the masses. Nicely done, American Pinball. Yeah, it was. It was a good idea. I'd like to see more giveaways, do more machine giveaways from manufacturers. I think it's a good way, a logical way to promote the product. And I hope Ricky enjoys the game. And if he doesn't, he can shake it before he blanches it.
    41:20
    Texas Pinball Festival sent an update. I didn't receive this update. You received an update from the Texas Pinball Festival as to their upcoming plans for the 2021 show. Right. Normally, they would have opened up their ability for people to register by now. So they sent out an email that was sort of doing a holiday greeting, letting people know that they've been in their discussions with the Embassy Suites Hotel and the Frisco Convention Center and the Visitor's Bureau for the city of Frisco. And I think the bottom line takeaway is Texas Pinball Festival has set January 5th, 2021 as their, quote, line in the sand, end quote. So what they're saying is that by January 5th, if it looks like things are clearing up on the COVID front and that people are feeling good about being willing to travel and that they – in all caps that everyone is ready for TPF 2021. So I'm assuming that means vendors are going to engage and the attendees are going to engage. Then they will use that two and a half month period to promote the festival, get people registered and finish up the planning. If it's not set by January 5th, then most likely, though they didn't say for sure, but most likely that would mean they'll have to roll ahead again to 2022 and pass on another year.
    42:39
    I mean, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Personally, I don't see how the COVID situation will improve by January 5th, given that we're seeing the fall spike that was assumed to happen. I think that Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be cluster events. I think New Year's will be as well. And the bottom line is that mass vaccination will not be happening by January. No, no. By all my latest information I have, the feds think maybe April is feasible for mass vaccination. by January there might be some vaccinations but we're talking first responders maybe really really really high risk people possibly but the doses just aren't going to be ready it's not going to be at your CVS Minute Clinic here right right and as part of the email Texas Pinball Festival stressed that they do not think it's feasible for them to be able to hold the event and try to do masks and hand sanitizer and social distancing I agree with the latter I don't see how you can pull off a TPF and do the social distancing You could mandate masks. You could be tough and actually mandate them. But it's Texas. And you could also – but it's private business. Private business, private property rights, Merck. So TPF could make any rule they wanted and say you're not coming in unless you wear a mask. But the social distancing thing and the fact that people are touching all this stuff, I agree with them. It's not – it wouldn't be the right decision. But we're talking Texas here. I mean that's – are they – But the people coming in are all Texans. They get a huge Texas audience for sure, but there are a lot of people that – I mean, see, part of the challenge is, well, some of the – there are a lot of people who come in from foreign countries. Are they going to even be allowed to fly into America in March? How many – a lot.
    44:21
    Oh, I mean, people are paying hundreds of dollars to go to this thing. A decent amount of people. In terms of registration, flight, the hotel facilities, and then what they buy from the vendor booths. If any state is going to hold down a damn pinball convention, it's probably Texas. That's what I'm saying. And that's a fair enough point, except you think it's up to the state and forgetting the power that the city has. Even so, that city is in Texas. How are they going to measure this of whether this is a go or not? I'm going to guess it's I mean, if it's about if it's this language that the email used regarding feeling good, I don't think it's actually going to be an emotional based decision. I assume they'll go and load up the either national or at the very least state-level COVID case rate and see if it's still going up.
    45:08
    And by mathematics, it should be. I can see them saying we're going to go do it, and then here comes March again, and then they cancel. So I don't know what this January should look like. I can't see where the – we need to be practical here. I can't see how the numbers are going to get better by January 5th. There's nothing in the statistics that would indicate that we would see an improvement. people aren't following the guidance you'd have to assume a huge spike in increased adherence and we've got Thanksgiving where people are going to get together they don't care they're going to do it they're going to get together for Christmas even if they don't for Thanksgiving and then they're going to be all the young people that are going to get together for New Year's Eve because they don't care and that's just reality rubbing the privates together it's going to be a mess out for you every single one of those is before January 5th and every single one of those will create a spike. It will happen. Oh, boy. I don't know. It's just math. We saw it with every other holiday.
    46:07
    Yeah, but people don't care. Even if this is still a thing, businesses are still opening, people are still hanging out, people are still shopping, people are still... Hell... TPF cares. I'm guilty of it. I went to the movies yesterday. Me and my son went to the movies. That's a big no-no, right? You don't care. I don't know. Do what you want. Just do whatever you want. I went into the movie theater and my son and I literally had the entire space to ourselves. Is that a risk? I don't think so. Well, there are risks with everything. So everything is about risk mitigation, not total risk avoidance. Now, some people who are high risk are doing as much risk avoidance as possible. I mean I take a risk every time I go to the grocery store. Even if I wear a mask, I take a risk. I factor these things in. And TPF knows that it is a serious risk because it's so close. You know how it is. You've been there. You're packed in like sardines, and you're touching everything. And there's no feasible way that they can sterilize the games after every person touches them. They can't. And people touch their faces without thinking about it, so you can't help it. Yeah, but if there's a sniff of a vaccine, they'll go through with it, I think. There is already a sniff of a vaccine. I mean, the Pfizer results are looking very promising. I know they still need to be peer-reviewed, but there's no reason to assume that the scientists with Pfizer lied about the success rate. I may not agree with it, listener. I may think this is still a bad idea trying to get these shows going in early 2021. But if I were to bet, I would bet in March you're going to see Ed Vanervine staying outside the Embassy Suite store singing, Don't you know that I'm still standing any better than Ed Vanervine? We are not singing anymore ever. Looking like a true survivor. I am done, Zach. Looking like a little kid. You'll cut that song.
    47:56
    You'll cut the song from the episode, or I won't do another episode. You don't like that? No. People want the songs dead. Wrong. Drawing a line in the sand. Just like TPF drew a line in the sand. So who knows? I don't know what's going to happen. But what I do know... People will not be vaccinated in March, Zach. They will not be. I got something to cure everybody. It's called Pinball Market Trends. No, we're dropping Market Trends, too. What? Why? I just, I'm lying in the sand. It's a real deep line. It's like a canyon. What happened? Market trends? No market trends? I just kept digging. Wrong. What'd you find?
    48:31
    I found gold. You know, I just weave gold here. I'm weaving gold. You don't want market trends either? I hate market trends. What does this show become?
    48:40
    It became the news like I always wanted it to be. Oh, God. With or without Dennis Trini up this week! Zalvira's house of... The reason it's trending up is because, I don't care, premium LE, super LE with the couch, all models are hot right now. Because of the couch? They're hot. You can't find a signature edition. You can't find an LE, new or used. And the run was recently bumped. They were supposed to make these things again in October. Boom. Got bumped right back to, I believe, late November, December, and with the possibility of being bumped back into 2021. The vaccine might be out before the Elvira. That's right. And Elvira, everybody wants one. The code is all the way there. It's a fun code. And just like yodely, yodely, yodely. No yodeling. No yodeling either. Shit. It's singing. That's a form of singing. A yodel is? It is. I thought it was more primal. There's sand and there are lines in it. It tells me that. It also spells help. That's the spot where I would have loved to have made. Ken Cromwell, quit JJP and come back and host the show and let me free. Be free. I would have loved to have made probably the joke of the week there, but I can't. But I would have loved to have said, damn, I feel like I'm.
    50:04
    Yeah, you can't do that joke. Dennis has also climbed to number four on the Pennside Top 100 It pushed out of the way all of the other Stern games It the the top Stern on Inside Top 100 right now It is a fun game I looked up yodel According to dictionary it is to sing with frequent changes from the ordinary voice to falsetto and back again in the manner of Swiss or Tyrolean mountaineers No merriment in there? No. Damn. There is no joy with yodel. Only pain. I'm not going to disagree with that. So trending up is Elvira's House of Horrors. A lot of people are wanting it right now. They're focused on that game and that game alone. Everybody always focuses on the damn stuff and nobody got. Maybe they should be a little more well-rounded. Maybe they should care about Demolition Man. Yeah, but if they did that, they would be trending down. Trending down this week is Demolition Man. Poor Demo Man. Yeah, there's so many on the market right now. I've seen them pop up all the time. And they're still in like the mid-twos to 3K. That's a good deal for the best of the super pins.
    51:09
    Arguably the worst, actually. No, not arguably the worst. For me, probably the worst. I can't think of a better... Sure, you can. I'm not going to... You get your own subjective pick. I think, broadly speaking, if you were to pull, Demolition Man is not going to be at the bottom. Yes, true. But pinball people don't know what's good.
    51:30
    That's kind of mean. No, they just... Well, they don't. it is what it is you mean to tell and I'm not even going to go into this argument again because every time I do it you always say Demolition Man is better than a lot of them that I list Demolition Man is my favorite out of the super pins Indiana Jones what about it Demolition Man you like better than Indiana Jones yeah Twilight Zone I think it's more fun to shoot Roadshow oh I hate Roadshow really yeah I hate the rules they actually have rules Demolition Man struggling. The whole rules sector. Demolition Man's fun. You've got the tight shots to try and do once you're in the multi-ball roadshow. You went to New York and still Miami. You already screwed up your game. Yeah, well, good point. And the sounds are obnoxious. And they've got the creepy dolls. They have the best song in pinball in there.
    52:25
    The best song in pinball is Beep Gate. Beep. So all of you with the Demo Man, I'm sorry. All of you that are looking to buy a Demoman, you're welcome. But that is trending down this week. Oh, Demoman's got a little company here. Trending down this week is Walmart. Fuck you, Walmart.
    52:43
    That was all I really had for them. A little context here. Walmart? Walmart sucks. Dennis, how can they be one of the biggest retailers and still blow it? They can't figure out their online shopping experience? How? I ask you, how? I need answers. What the hell is up with Walmart? I don't go to Walmart except to buy oil. I went to Walmart. I went to their website, and they said that a fucking Xbox was in stock at Walmart at this location. So I drive 45 minutes to said location. Was there a goddamn Xbox there? No! And the lady there, the sweet service person backing the electronics, acted like it was my fault. Like I did something wrong. She was like, oh, we're not selling them in stores. They're only pre-order. Oh, well, guess what, lady? It says in stock. So it's not my fault. It's your ignorance. It's your fuck up. You should apologize for that. No, it's as if, no, no, it's your fault for driving here and saying it's in stock. But that's not it, folks. No, no, no. This is a brick shot. Oh, yeah. So these son of a bitches then post online, they're only going to sell the next gen consoles. Yes. So what? Judge me. I wanted to get a new Xbox or PlayStation. Maybe both. Not sure yet. But I wanted one of them, and I tried to get one. My grubby little hands. And, oh, at 12 midnight, we're going to release another batch. At 3, at 6, at 9. Have you been familiar with this formatting, Dennis?
    54:12
    Yeah. I mean, I've never, like, gone and stood in line like that, but I'm aware of it. Well, no, this is an online thing. The son of a bitch is, I like the old school where I could show up at, you know, 10 o'clock and wait two hours. That's the old school traditional, you know, get off my lawn type of way. they've done away with that don't social distance my ass it's just an excuse to get them online and to do all this bullshit so here i am f5 in my ass like i'm trying to get a fucking pinberg ticket and then what happens boom you got it zach enter bam goes into my my cart oh yeah i'm doing my ps5 dance uh uh uh and then bam i go i'm typing in right now i'm typing in my credit card number And guess what? They snagged the motherfucker from my cart when I was paying for it. You're too slow. Should have preloaded that cart in. Guess you're not a loyal Walmart customer. Screw them. If you allow somebody to put something in their cart, there has to be a statute of limitations, like a time period, a grace period. The statute of limitations was clearly shorter than your slow-ass typing. It was five seconds. That's not fair. It was in my cart. I went to pay for it. Life isn't fair. Yeah. The story. Tell that to the Canadians waiting for their Stern pinball machines they've ordered. Fuck you, Walmart. Tell that to everyone waiting for their GNR. All you did was see the pinballification of the new consoles. That's all this is. So I know what it feels like now. Doesn't feel good.
    55:42
    No. Even Jersey Jack's messy CE announcement and rollout and sales was more clear than this shit. Walmart. Target, Best Buy, GameSpot. I'm talking to all you guys. You all fucked it up. There's no clear communication on how to sell these products. Zero.
    56:01
    Zero. I have no clue how to buy these products. Can't go into the store. Every time I go into the store, we don't get them in the store. Oh, you don't? Well, just for the pre-order people. Well, how do I pre-order? Well, you had to already pre-order. How do I get a fucking game? That's all I want to know. How do I get a game? You know how? Stupid-ass eBay and Craigslist. That's the only way to get a next gen game right now Well there was high demand Early adopters had to buy buy buy You know what is trending up this week Actually trending up this week is Playstation 5 Over the Xbox Series X And it's due to the limit There are less Playstation 5's Rolling out than there are these Xbox's So on the secondary market Right now for a brand new Playstation 5 You're $1200 For the inferior system $1200 It's not much inferior it's not much and it does have exclusives the xbox but sure an xbox you're at about eight nine hundred bucks secondary sony was very transparent months ago that they were having to reduce their bill the number that they were going to put out they're doing that just they know what they're doing over there scarcity leads to popularity that's what's going to happen i yeah but they don't they don't make additional money off of like inflated scalp prices no but they're Their distributor network being the Walmarts and GameStops, they don't get to pull the pinball stuff where they start marking up the games from MSRP. Sure, but it will drive the market up. Temporarily for people trying to get Christmas presents because they've never learned how to tell their kids no.
    57:34
    Guilty. Or they want to be that guy or girl in the bar that plays a little hard to get. I'm much better if you bring me home if you have to work for it. Xbox is like, who wants to take me home over here, huh? I washed up today. That's what it feels like. Sorry. There's a little rant, but I couldn't find one. Do you think Walmart is big enough an organization to figure out their in-stock versus not in-stock situation? I don't care. Maybe Walmart could get out of the retail business and just sell their IPs through other stores. I'm just brainstorming here as a brilliant expert on retail. I just suggested it. That's all. It was a terrible suggestion. Well, and I learned from it. It was the whole point. It was that you, as it was pointed out online, it was that you dared think that it was your place to bring it up. Trying to uncover truths with discussion. So crazy. I'm just a truth seeker. Whatever. Deals of the week this week. I'm just told about this Walmart situation. How are you going to take something? I've got to scoop water out of the ocean with a sieve. That's you.
    58:49
    A little salty. I've got to go out. I've got to get some buckets. I've got to make some pasta. Go out to the river. Here's your colander.
    58:57
    Are we done with the segment? Deals of the Week this week is a beautiful... I didn't really find any Deals of the Week, so I was like, shit, I guess I've got to create one for these people. Maybe just not have one. Stern Beals Platinum Edition. This ain't your mom and pop's gold edition. No, no. Limited to 250 models. the platinum they were selling up in the 10 to 12 range when they first came out i've got a deal here flipping out pinball you can buy one pre-owned for 70 100 buy buy buy that's a steal of a deal dennis new gold or 8k you can get new in box golds for so little now man like 70k 7100 for the Platinum? Come on.
    59:38
    Alright, and deals of the... What the Walmart? I'm on Pinside right now, Dennis, and in Apopka, Florida, right near Kissimmee in Orlando,
    59:51
    Disneytown, CM Struth is selling a Medieval Madness Remake Royal Edition. Remember, listener, these were 10K. Took a little bit to come out, but they were $10,000. Any guesses to the price of this one that's used?
    60:10
    $11,000? $16,000! What? Wow, that's like alien price. Sell, sell, sell! So silly. Get out of here. Do you think somebody's really looking at this saying, maybe they did put the green LEDs in the trolleyes? Well, maybe they're desperate and they want it for Christmas, and you've got to pay that right. If anybody wants a Medieval Madness Royal And you're looking to spend $16,000 Please come to me and I will find you one too You should have seen if you could have sold that Jurassic Park Alley for $16,000 I felt bad selling it for $11,000 But you know Took my topper You didn't feel bad enough I'm still thinking about the Walmart thing Let it go I can't Elsa And that was your Pinball Market Trends Fuck you, Walmart edition!
    61:06
    Dennis, let's close down the show. We've learned a lot this week. But I don't know if people know where they can catch you between now and next Monday. I don't know. They can always go over to facebook.com slash eclecticgamerspodcast or email eclecticgamerspodcast at gmail.com and get a hold of me through those venues. That would work. They could also put a mirror up and turn around and look at their buttocks and see a beautiful tattoo of you on it. We're still getting people that are thinking about the whole tattoo for the topper thing. Toppers for tats! Promotion that we're doing.
    61:41
    I think Cause is thinking about it. You can catch me straight down the middle of a video series on YouTube, emailing us there at sdtmpinball at gmail.com. Our most recent video was that Hobbit company reveal video. Go check that out. and I do want to tell you guys this. So if you're ready to buy a brand new or used pinball machine or escalator, stair climbing hand truck, flipping out pinballs, where to go? 812-457-9711. Zach, Z-A-C-H at flip the letter N out pinball.com to email or just go to flipping out pinball.com. Order there. But what I was wanting to tell you guys, we are into Q4. We're rolling into Q4. This is the time that if you're wanting a new in-box pinball machine and you're wanting it by Christmas, You're out of luck on some of these titles already. But we're going to start seeing dealers' inventory dry up. This is just what happens right now, especially if Stern's going to try to drop another pinball machine. I think we're going to get maybe the pin this week, that comic book that we talked about last week, Star Wars. But maybe a new pin in January, December. Regardless, all dealers are going to get really low on stock. Right now we've got Turtles Pros in stock, Batman 66. I think I still got one or two left of those. And they're not going to run these things until next year, people. Deadpool Pros, one or two in stock. Hot Wheels, in stock. Star Wars Comic Pro is in stock. MMR Accessories, Guardians Pros are coming in very soon, as well as Avengers Pros, Turtles Premiums, and JP Jurassic Park Pros. If you want one, now's the time to start inquiring and start planning. Because don't think, you know, two weeks from Christmas, you're going to be able to call and somebody have these hot titles in stock. It's just not going to happen. Plan ahead. Let's do it like I should have with that goddamn next-gen console. Catch TPN this week as there are a bunch of streamers streaming some beautiful pinball machines. Top ten lists aplenty. Hmm. Radio got screwed on last week's one, didn't he? Well, there's only room for ten. But I like David Dennis went in there and fixed that.
    63:45
    Well, he is the social media master. Hey, I think we do have a Silver Ball Chronicles coming up this week. I believe it will drop, yes, this week. And have they talked about what it's going to cover? Well, he mentioned it on my stream, so I'm assuming it's okay to know. Yeah, it's about John Borg. Oh, that's exciting. I really like the idea of that. It would be better than the artwork. Let's describe art on a podcast. Yeah, I wasn't a huge fan of the art. But they can't all be winners. No, they can't. I think we have a final round coming up as well this week. Go check out Jessie J. She and Brian C. did a really good – man, they've found their groove. Their report's top-notch. I'm listening to that one right now. Well, not literally right now, but the one I'm currently listening to. That one's damn good. Another pinball podcast. We had another – oh, we had a midweek show. Yeah, they keep on rolling in here at the pinball network. Yeah, some hard takes on both of those, just another and midweek. They were a little. I felt like I needed to shower after them. If you're ready to review us, you can review the Pinball Network or the Pinball Show in particular on iTunes or your favorite pod review catcher. For Dennis Creasel, I am Zachariah Mini. Remember, if you need to get your pinball story out there, just call Elements Studio. Man, you've really been poking me this whole episode. I'm just saying. The Elements Studio, the singing, the Walmart thing. I'm a professional, too. Always practice safe pinball and don't listen to Dennis Creasel up! And if you got a PlayStation 5 You want to sell me Get a brother in No god don't I'll pay up to Look I'll pay Don't buy a scalped one I'll pay $700 for one Maybe $800 if It just depends on the deal I may I just want to play The Spidey game And I want to play the Oh my god get it for PS4 Shut up No I want it No I want it 5 4K And what's that Left behind me Or within me Or behind me Whatever the hell that thing is Last of Us. I want to play that, too. I want to play it. I need a PS5 to play it. No, you don't, Zach. Yes, I do. No, you don't. You can get a PS4 and play all of that. I want the upscale. It will get a PS4 Pro. Yeah, it's not as good as the 5. Read about the specs. You don't know what you're talking about. I do know about it. I've read way too much about it. No, you don't. Framerate, my friend. Framerate. No. Framerate. Your TV probably can't even handle that. How dare you, sir.
    66:09
    I should thank you for doing that segment because I had people reach out to me asking what the information was for Eclectic Gamers so that they could listen to an actual video game podcast.
    66:39
    Yeah, yeah, yeah.